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New Day

Franco Russo is Interviewed about His Restaurants in Fort Myers; Chris Wallace is Interviewed about his Talk with Jose Andres; Putin Illegally Annexes Occupied Ukraine; Suicide Bomber at Kabul. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired September 30, 2022 - 08:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[08:30:00]

FRANCO RUSSO, OWNER, JUNKANOO BEACH AND FRESH CATCH BRISTO IN FORT MYERS: Not even stairs to get up to that restaurant anymore.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: I mean, we're looking at the picture of Junkanoo you say - you can see, it's gone. It's just gone.

RUSSO: Yes.

BERMAN: What does it feel like to see the power that this storm had.

RUSSO: You know, to be honest, my - my initial feeling was just confusion. The day of the storm I got some news that the water had entered Junkanoo. It was about five feet high. And that's all I knew until the next morning when I woke up and opened up my Facebook and saw photos that it was no longer there. It's - it's confusion. It's - it's surreal. I mean I - you know, events like these, you don't think can happen to you. You see them, unfortunately, happen in other cities and other towns and you see them in movies, but you don't think they could happen to you until they do.

BERMAN: So, what are your plans? What are you going to do?

RUSSO: We're going to clean up and we're going to reevaluate. Obviously, we'd love to rebuild Junkanoo and rebuild Fresh Catch because those restaurants have been staples in the Fort Myers beach community for, you know, 20-plus years. So, we would - we would love to rebuild and - and help the community any way we can.

BERMAN: Well, Franco Russo, I'm sorry for what you're going through, sorry for what you're seeing, but we wish you the best of luck and we know you will pull through and you'll be there for the people in Fort Myers Beach. Thanks so much for being with us this morning.

RUSSO: Thanks, John. And if you don't mind, I just - I just wanted to mention one more thing. I started a GoFundMe for all of my employees that are on our Facebook pages at Junkanoo and at Fresh Catch and on our Instagram pages. They are out of jobs and we don't know for how long. And any support is really appreciated.

BERMAN: You got it. I know you're going to have a lot of fans, a lot of people who have eaten at your restaurants who will want to help.

Thanks, Franco.

RUSSO: Thank you.

BERMAN: All right, breaking news from overseas. A suicide bombing at a Kabul education center in Afghanistan killing many young girls. We're going to have new details on the attack ahead.

And happening now, Vladimir escalates - sorry, Vladimir Putin escalates the situation in Ukraine, illegally annexing four Russian occupied regions in Ukraine. What that means, ahead.

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[08:36:48]

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, everyone. I'm Brianna Golodryga in New York. We'll go back to Florida in just a moment.

But first, in the next episode of "WHO'S TALKING TO CHRIS WALLACE," Chris sits down with Chef Jose Andres on helping people in Florida impacted by Hurricane Ian.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSE ANDRES, FOUNDER, WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN: The path of the hurricane, as we knew, changed. Always changes. The amazing thing is that we never have to plan. We only wait and adapt. That's why today the teams are already out providing probably between 25,000 and 30,000 meals. This is within hours of the hurricane leaving.

CHRIS WALLACE, CNN HOST, "WHO'S TALKING TO CHRIS WALLACE": So you've got that much on the ground in Florida right now?

ANDRES: We always preposition. We have to preposition. People in need, they - food and water. The urgency of now is yesterday. And the more we can do before, the fastest our response is. It's the least we can do for the people. So we have foot tracks (ph). We -- we have helicopter. We can use it to reach communities that will be hard to get. We have an amphibious vehicle in position in case in certain communities the only way to access to them will be through these kind of specialized vehicles.

But at the end it's very simple, big problems have very simple solutions.

WALLACE: You're not sitting back at headquarters giving order, are you?

ANDRES: The most important thing is our case is not cooking itself, which sometimes can be difficult. The most important thing is the distribution, it's getting to the people. And what happens. Something amazing happens in real time you learn the situation. If you are in the headquarters, yes, you may be watching the TV, a reporter, but nothing like to feel what people are going through. (END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: Big problems have simple solutions.

Chris Wallace joins me now.

So, Chris, Chef Jose is just a gift to humanity. Whether it's hurricanes, whether it's war zones in Ukraine, he is just there to help the people on the ground. I know you spoke with him before Hurricane Ian. Talk to me about what else stood out to you from your time with him.

CHRIS WALLACE, CNN HOST, "WHO'S TALKING TO CHRIS WALLACE": Well, it was so interesting, Bianna. I spoke to him yesterday. And he likes to say he's just not a volunteer, that's not true. He is the field general. And he was -- just before we sat down, he's on the phone and he's talking to his people in the field. And it is like a general with an army because, as he says, you have to preposition. You can't go into a hurricane zone after its happens.

They - they were a little bit thrown off because they were ready in Tampa, and, obviously, as we know, Hurricane Ian hit further south. So, they've now had to move their forces and move all that food further south, into the hurricane zone. And as he said yesterday, that - that they were going to be feeding 20,000, 30,000 meals to the people in need.

After the interview, he flew down to Miami. Then he was going to drive up the coast. He figured that was the only way he could get there. And they will be feeding tens of thousands of meals to the people who have been hit so hard, as you've been showing all morning, for days, maybe weeks.

And the most amazing thing, Bianna, is, you know, since 2017 every single day World Central Kitchen, his food relief organization, has been feeding some people someplace in the world every single day for these last five-plus years.

[08:40:08]

GOLODRYGA: I keep thinking about what President Biden just said the other day, and that the most important thing to a family and to a mother is to make sure that her children are fed.

I'm just so amazed by what Chef Jose is able to do, along with his organization, about getting and mobilizing his staff and that food on the ground wherever the crisis is as quickly as he does.

What is his key to success there?

WALLACE: Well, I -- his secret sauce is that he's a chef and he enlists other chefs. And one of the things he says, if you've ever been in a kitchen, it's chaos. You can plan all you want but things happen. And so he says as opposed to - and he's not knocking government organizations or nonprofits, but he says we're uniquely qualified. So, he will tap into all of the chef community in whatever area it is. Whether -- and right now they're in Pakistan, Afghanistan, as you said, Ukraine with the war, Puerto Rico, Cuba and, yes, southwest Florida. And they will tap into that community.

And they don't worry about red tape. They don't worry about paying the bills. They just get food to the people in need and then they worry about how they're going to pay for it afterwards.

And as you pointed out, he says, food is important but food is a lot more than that. Food is love. Food is a statement we care. Somebody else out there cares and is sharing your plight with you.

GOLODRYGA: Chef Andres, General Andres, I think we should call him, somebody we want on any army any day of the week.

Chris Wallace, thank you so much. Really looking forward to this conversation.

WALLACE: Thanks, Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: And you can catch "LOOK WHO'S TALKING TO CHRIS WALLACE" on Sunday at 7:00 p.m. on CNN.

Well, just moments ago in Moscow, a major escalation in Russia's war. Vladimir Putin illegally annexing occupied Ukrainian territories. I'll remind viewers again, illegally. It's a move that world leaders say will not be acknowledged.

Joining me now is CNN's senior international correspondent Matthew Chance, and CNN senior security editor Nick Paton Walsh.

Matthew, you're here with me on set. So, this was anticipated. What's interesting is that we had seen that rapid speed counteroffensive by the Ukrainians to avoid just this earlier this month. All of that having been said, Vladimir Putin doubles down and follows up on this annexation. What happens next?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and it's probably because of that rapid advance by Ukrainian forces on the ground, which I think Nick's going to talk to you about in a minute, that Vladimir Putin has brought forward this referenda in these four regions of Ukraine to really kind of send a powerful message, both to his domestic audience in Russia, and to international observers as well, that he is going to do this. He's determined to do it despite the fact that he doesn't control vast areas of territory that he's about to annex.

I mean, you know, he's now made this speech in Moscow, which is the first step in - first step - one of the next step informally annexing these territories. He said there are now four new regions of Russia. He also called on Kyiv, on the authorities in Ukraine, to come back to the negotiating table. But he made it clear that even though Russia was looking for a peace deal, these regions would not be up for negotiation. He said that these people will be in Russia forever. I'm slightly paraphrasing it here. But he drawn Russian's red line.

Of course, what we also know is that Vladimir Putin has declared openly that he will defend these territories as if they are part of mother Russia, you know, with the nuclear weapons that he's got, if he deems it to be necessary.

GOLODRYGA: And, Nick, I want to bring you in to talk about the counteroffensive that continues to play out there on the part of the Ukrainians. We have Vladimir Putin lying to the public, lying to the world, saying that this is now part of mother Russia. President Zelenskyy had said since day one, if these - if this happens, if there is a referendum, if there's an annexation, there is no turning back. He is not going to the negotiation table.

So, what happens next in terms of any possible talks between these two sides?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: I think that prospect is pretty remote. And this seems to be the Kremlin's big play here judging from the main takeaway from a speech that was predominantly a revisionist history, again painting Russia as a victim from western - I mean imperialism. Essentially accusing the west of exactly what Russia's doing here. He's essentially saying, let's have a unilateral cease-fire here, let's stop fighting, let's go to the negotiating table.

Now, it's fair to say that in the past Russia has used diplomacy as a time for a military pause, to regroup or to continue to pursue its military objectives. And that's why Washington, the EU and Kyiv has pretty firmly rejected Russian diplomacy as something it doesn't engage with in earnest. But it seems to be holding that out here with the background threat, as you just heard, of possible nuclear force. Something that, of course, everyone should treat as remote and the last horrifying idea.

But, in the background , during all of this, I have to say, looking at the crowd during some of that speech, there weren't that many convinced faces because they know that on the ground here in Ukraine, as Russia announces these new areas of its territory, parts that which Ukraine controls is growing hour by hour.

[08:45:15]

Now, importantly, in Luhansk, one of the four regions which they just said is part of Russia, they are on the verge of seeing a key town, a railway hub called Liman (ph), which has possibly thousands of some of Russia's best troops in it. That seems to be encircled almost or close to being encircled by a rapid and very methodical Ukrainian advance that we've seen how it burst through the countryside here over the past weeks. It's continuing to do that in other areas around Luhansk. And so the notion suddenly that these areas are now just an indisputable part of Russia legally is, of course, absurd, but it's also practically on the ground being dismantled slowly hour by hour.

And there are some seeing this potential encirclement around Liman (ph) as the possibility for yet another Russian collapse, like we saw around the second city of Kharkiv, just weeks ago. Supply lines were hit. The Russian army ran. That's not impossible here. And so Putin is giving us this extraordinary vision of a Russia under

threat that now is declaring its territory expanded to protect citizens that it considers it has the right to offer protection to. But, at the same time, its conventional forces have been failing here for weeks. It's partial mobilization has succeeded in sending over 200,000 Russians out of Russia to avoid it. But we haven't seen tens of thousands of properly equipped troops here at all to alter the dynamics on the battlefield.

And so we're in this dangerous moment where Russia seems to have played its cards, said these are now parts of Russia, do not touch them or we reserve the right to do anything to defend them. It's called internationally perhaps now for more diplomacy, but that looks likely to be rejected. And we're now left in, what else, moments where Ukraine continues to go forward because Russia doesn't seem to have conventional forces there that change things.

GOLODRYGA: Matthew, looking at that room, it looks anything but celebratory in terms of those officials who Vladimir Putin is addressing. This is supposed to be a day of jubilation that he would like to copy what happened in 2014 when he annexed Crimea. Clearly the situation is different right now.

A rare admission of mistakes being made yesterday that struck me in terms of the partial mobilization of troops in Russia. And you've seen, throughout the country, as we just heard, that many, hundreds of thousands perhaps, men have been trying to leave because there is concern of just about the number of men who have been called up for duty.

CHANCE: Yes, I mean, look, this whole adventure from the Kremlin's point of view has been misstep after misstep. And it's just incredible looking at the faces at the men and women in this - in this audience, in the Kremlin, as Vladimir Putin gives this speech, which is meant to be, as you say, a celebration of the homecoming of these broke away parts of Russia as they see it. Everyone's got a blank expression on their face because they know what the cost has been so far to the country and what it's going to be. Because one of the things he said is, look, it was almost kind of unbelievable, he was like, we're going to rebuild the destroyed cities. We're going to make these regions prosperous again. And, you know, there wasn't a glimmer of agreement on those people's faces.

GOLODRYGA: Yes.

CHANCE: They are sitting there because they've been told to sit there and nod their heads. And I think --

GOLODRYGA: These are some of the poorest regions of Ukraine, we should note, as well, especially there in Donbas.

CHANCE: Well, they're the industrial regions and they've got - they've got industrial potential, but, I mean, they've been devastated -

GOLODRYGA: For years. CHANCE: Over the past seven months. They've been laid to waste, these areas. And, you know, it is going to be a burden on any country, let alone one like Russia, to rebuild them.

GOLODRYGA: And we shouldn't look lightly on that nuclear threat that he continues to dangle. He says he's bluffing. Hopefully we won't see that day. But, nonetheless, he's crossed a rubicon here, we can say that for sure.

Good to have you on set with us. Matthew Chance, Nick Paton Walsh, our thanks to you.

Well, more news this morning overseas, this time in Afghanistan, where at least 23 people are dead and 36 wounded after a suicide attack at an education center in Kabul. Most of the dead, young girls. Here you see students running from the scene where they heard loud explosion that threw some of them to the ground.

CNN's Salma Abdelaziz joins us now from London.

Salma, just horrific images there. What's the latest?

SALAM ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Brianna.

I mean these were young people who were dreaming of going to college, trying to study to take a university exam and pursue their higher education when at about 7:30 a.m. local time in Kabul, a suicide bomber entered this classroom and, of course, ripped through it. Over 20 people killed, as you mentioned, over 30 people wounded. And you can see that social media video of these young teenagers just simply running in the streets, absolutely terrified.

Now, we do not know who is behind this attack yet. We don't know the motivation. But there's two hallmarks here that we often see in suicide attacks in Afghanistan that I want to point out.

[08:50:01]

The first is where it took place, Bianna, and that is in a minority neighborhood, an area where the Hizari (ph) community predominantly resides. This is a community that has been persecuted for a long time, that rights groups say has very little protection under the Taliban.

And then the second issue, the one you brought up, eyewitnesses saying that a majority of the victims appear to be young women. Again, 17, 18, 19, dreaming of going to college, something that seems almost impossible in Afghanistan these days. Again, we don't know if they were targeted but one eyewitness says that bomber went in and detonated his device in the area of the room where the girls were sitting.

Of course, since the Taliban takeover over a year ago, the situation for young girls has gotten much, much bleaker. Sixth grade and above you are banned from going to school as a young girl. And as you can see, even for those who still have a little bit of access to education, they could lose their life just for practice to take a test.

Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: Yes, just going to school, as children around the world do. It's just so heartbreaking.

Salma Abdelaziz, I know you'll continue to cover this story for us. Thank you.

Well, we are awaiting another update from Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on the destruction from Hurricane Ian. It comes as the storm now takes aim at the Carolinas.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:55:27]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hold on. Hold on. Hold. Hold. Hold.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hold on (INAUDIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hold.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Push forward. Push forward. There you go.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).

GAIL SIMS, SURVIVED HURRICANE IAN: Got clobbered with all the furniture and stuff that was floating and stuff. That's how I got this. I got shoved into a wall. And, anyway, when I got the front door open and there was a surge and it - it took me to the middle of the yard, and I fought to get back on the porch.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Just some images there of the impact of Hurricane Ian.

Just moments from now, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis will be speaking live as his state deals with massive destruction.

We're also following Hurricane Ian's next round, heading straight for the Carolinas. This is CNN's special live coverage.

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